Painting Narrative; The Form and Place of Narrative within a Static Medium Katherine Edney 2 Painting Narrative; The Form and Place of Narrative within a Static Medium Katherine Edney Master of Fine Arts by Research 2008 3 Abstract Within painting, there are numerous possibilities for the ways in which a narrative can be compositionally presented in order to communicate a particular emotion or story. Traditional devices including gesture, facial expression, interaction of figures and symbolism establish foundations within the composition to facilitate a narrative response and formulate questions as to the how, what and why. This formal language may also be considered in addition to other concepts surrounding the term narrative itself. The notion of narrative as something which is fluid also encompasses issues of time, movement, and continuity; idea’s which seemingly contradict the static temperament of painting. How painters have been able to successfully construct elements of narrative in their work, while also capturing a sense of movement or a passage of time is the starting point at which the following research takes shape. When embarking on this project, I realised that there was no definitive text on this subject which specifically analysed the form and composition of pictorial narratives as sole entities. Theoretical discussions surrounding a painting’s formal arrangement have mostly been produced in relation to how they either illustrated or have been adapted from a written source. This paper is intended to examine the structure of narrative paintings from a stand alone visual perspective, and not how they are comparative to a literary source. Over the course of this investigation, I subsequently found that the methodologies of continuous narrative paintings from the Renaissance echoed certain theoretical concerns within contemporary cinematic narratives. While painting and film maintain a relationship to some degree because they are both visual media, (in reference to colour, tone and symbolism), the most interesting parallel is the depiction of time. This correlation between painting and film, where elements of the narrative are compositionally presented in a non-linear way, has had the most important influence over the production of my work for the exhibition, ‘Hidden Fractures; A Narrative in Time’. Certain structures within film, such as event ‘order’ and sequencing resonate correspondingly to the stylistic approach sustained within recent work. This ‘jig-saw’ method, presents individual paintings (or canvases) akin to pieces of a story which 4 have been sliced up, and placed back together out of their ‘chronological’ order. These chosen snippets may represent a scene or emotion, and uphold their own position or viewpoint in relation to another image or painting. These unmatched sequences of images, similar to the unmatched sequences in film, can disrupt the perception and flow of space, and sense of narrative order. When sequences are viewed out of order, the perception of events within the narrative change. The viewer strives to construct the meaning of the work dependent upon each image’s relationship to another, in turn forming the underlying narrative. Through such ‘story comprehension’, the viewer endeavours to create ‘logical connections among data in order to match general categories of schema’. (Brangian 15) 5 Table of contents Abstract 3 Introduction Painting Narrative; The Form and Place of Narrative within a Static Medium 6 Chapter 1 Pictorial Narrative The Historical Function of Pictorial Narrative 8 Continuous Narrative 12 Literary and Visual; the opposing Narratives 18 Exploitation of event sequencing through composition in Continuous Narratives 20 Chapter 2 Modern Narrative Painting Modern Narrative Painting 28 Max Beckmann 30 Paula Rego 36 P.J. Crook 46 Chapter 3 Narrative and Film Painting versus Film 50 Continuity 51 Quentin Tarrantino 53 Peter Greenaway 57 Chapter 4 My Work The occurrence of narrative in film and my practice 62 The Conception of Time 64 Hidden Fractures; A Narrative in Time 66 Compositionally Speaking 70 Afterword 86 List of Illustrations 88 List of Works Cited 92 6 Introduction Painting Narrative: the form and place of narrative within a static medium A narrative or story is not static. It is a series of related events that move from a beginning to an end. Considering a narrative is forever constant and changing, this underlying issue forms the starting point of my research and work as it begins to respond to the following idea; How does one approach or attempt to produce a pictorial narrative within a static medium such as painting? The notion of narrative itself, as a representation of something which is seemingly fluid, is challenged conceptually within my MFA work and research. When translated into painting, I am fascinated by the ways in which a narrative’s fluidity, encompassing concepts such as the ordering of events or moments in time, can be disrupted. Is it possible to present several instances of time and place within the one compositional space, and what happens aesthetically when the narrative(s) flow or ‘order’ is disturbed and dissected? Within the boundaries of painting, an especially permanent and still medium by nature, my body of work explores this issue of aesthetics and the visual representation of narrative. This has been influenced by research into traditional narrative painting from the Italian Renaissance, comparative to contemporary cinema and theory. The methodologies of artists and directors and their approach to the depiction of visual narrative within their work will be examined, and more specifically, I will focus on work in which the figure as subject becomes central to the narrative. The range of formal strategies used by both painters and filmmakers in order to create a narrative path compositionally will be discussed from a visual perspective only. It is not my intention to draw comparisons between literature and art but to show how others have solely approached this subject on a formal level. 7 It is possible to draw parallels between film theory and concerns of visual representation within the realm of painting because they are both visual media. While there are similar techniques used to convey themes in order to construct a narrative formally, such as symbolism, colour and composition, the main difference between painting and film has revealed itself to be the constraints of movement and time. This contrast, where painting is fixed, while film remains in constant motion throughout its duration because it works in time, has had the most important impact on my work. _____________________ The influential text Story and Space in Renaissance Art: The Rebirth of Continuous Narrative by Lew Andrews has been significant in relation to the research and theories revolving around my painting. His comprehensive discussion of narrative types has been insightful, and the first chapter of this paper, Pictorial Narrative, discusses his research into this area. This includes several narrative ‘types’, including the continuous, simultaneous and mono-scenic methods, and their direct influence on the production of paintings for the exhibition, ‘Hidden Fractures; A Narrative in Time’. The mono-scenic method, where each action, gesture and pose of the figure is keyed into one single moment is the most commonly recognised compositional form within contemporary narrative painting. Subsequently, I have been searching for alternative ways to break up this familiar structure. The incorporation of theories realised in film which similarly occur in the continuous narratives of the Renaissance, respond to issues of ‘event’ or image sequencing, and the progression or portrayal of certain, although not distinctive, passages of time. The paper will begin with a discussion of the formal qualities of narrative painting from the Renaissance or quattrocento period, as they successfully capture several instances of time within the one composition. It will then skip to narrative painters within a modern context. The investigation has been structured in this manner, as I am interested in the particular methodologies used to portray narrative in the former, and how my work is located in relation to the latter. While I acknowledge the vast history of narrative painting in between these periods, I am focusing on examples of pictorial narrative which directly relate to my own theoretical framework. 8 Chapter One Pictorial Narrative The historical function of Pictorial Narrative. “Since all human actions unfold in time and are carried out in space, men, time and space are the three major challenges which the task of story telling presents to a sculptor or painter.” (Aronberg 2) George Hanfmann The significant role of narrative within the Christian Church has been historically established, where cycles of biblical scenes and religious stories functioned as both an educational and instructional tool. These narratives which used “multiple layers of symbolism, and served to instruct illiterate masses of the scripture and faith” (Fontana 42), became a major medium of public communication for Christianity throughout several centuries. The two main views concerning the original function of these religious narratives include; 1. A tradition of communication and delivering messages. Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) is credited with the assumption of an illiterate public, for which he believed a picture would be able to provide an appropriate model of action and instruction as well